


So Good For Me

by chamel



Category: Captain Marvel (2019), Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, BAMF Carol Danvers, Canon Compliant, Complicated Relationships, Depression, Drunk Thor (Marvel), F/M, Falling In Love, Feelings, Feelings Realization, Fix-It of Sorts, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Loner Carol, Missing Scene, POV Carol, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Rescue Missions, Slow Burn, Strong Female Characters, Team as Family, Thor being wise, Thor explains himself more than in the movie, Worried Thor (Marvel), asgardians of the galaxy - Freeform, fluffy epilogue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-29
Updated: 2019-05-10
Packaged: 2020-02-09 22:19:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 16,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18647212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chamel/pseuds/chamel
Summary: Thor was a big believer in Destiny; Carol was decidely not. Nevertheless, the fates kept bringing them together.****ENDGAME SPOILERS AHOY****





	1. never knew the score 'til now

**Author's Note:**

> This starts slow with a few scenes I would have wanted to see in Endgame. Thor and Carol really should have spent more time together!
> 
> There is varying amounts of time passing between chapters, but the approximate date is at the top of each chapter.
> 
> ****
> 
> Title and chapter titles taken from the Band of Skulls song "So Good"
> 
> This work does not belong to my previous Thor/Carol series.

_Earth, 2019_

The ride back to Earth had been a sombre one. Thanos’s destruction of the stones had been a shock to all of them, and the helplessness was overwhelming. Carol had considered departing directly from Thanos’s planet instead of going back to Earth. She had to go do _something_ that might help someone. But she felt she owed it to the Avengers to at least debrief back at the compound, to discuss if there was anything to do going forward.

The debrief had gone about as well as she thought it would. There was nothing they could do. They all knew it. Moving on was the only answer, but none of them were prepared to do that. Dissatisfied, they began to scatter, as if just being around each other was too much of a reminder of what they had lost. Nat had given them all holo-communicators tuned to the compound’s open channel, to check in from time to time.

She had been preparing for her own departure when there was a soft knock on the door to the room she had taken. “It’s open,” she called, not turning away from the projected map that plotted various distress signals across multiple galaxies. A number had come in while she was busy with the Avengers, and she had to triage to figure out which was the most dire. She heard the door creak as it opened, and a deep voice spoke behind her.

“Carol? Can we talk?”  
  
She turned to see the god of thunder standing in the middle of the room, looking haggard. Of all of them Thor had spoken the least since they had killed Thanos. He had retreated into himself, avoiding everyone. Bruce had tried the hardest to break through the walls the god had put up, but he was ultimately unsuccessful. She had tried, too. By the time they had gone after Thanos she had started to think of them all as friends, even Rhodey. She got along best with Thor, though. They had a similar sense of humor and could spend hours chatting about fighting strategies. He had flirted awkwardly with her, and she surprised herself by flirting back; well, he did have a fine ass. But he wouldn’t speak with her either now. Thor took their failure the hardest, and she knew he blamed himself for all of it. She wished she could tell him that it wasn’t his fault, but she knew he wouldn’t listen. So his appearance now, asking to talk, took her by surprise.

“Yeah, what’s up?” she asked.

“I have a favor to ask,” he began, and when she didn’t stop him, he continued. “Half of my people escaped Thanos when he attacked us in space, lead by my friend Valkyrie. I’ve heard nothing from them since. I would go after them myself, but I don’t have a ship and even if I knew where to aim it, I can’t land the bifrost on any of the small escape craft they took. I don’t know where they are, or if they’re… alive.” His voice broke at the end, as if he could barely manage to say the word. He looked at the ground, unable to meet her gaze.

Carol put a comforting hand on his arm. Just now she had gotten at least five distress signals from people in more dire situations, but she felt for him. She wasn’t sure what he would do if he had no one. It might be drastic, and she had grown fond of the big guy. It shouldn’t take her too long to locate them if they were still alive. She was good at finding people. “I’ll find them, Thor.”

“I’m sure you have more important things to do,” he said, looking up at the glowing spots scattered across her map. She had color coded some by how much trouble they were in, and a handful of red dots glowed angrily.

She shook her head. “Hey, this is important. It’s the least I can do.”

“Thank you,” Thor replied quietly with something that was almost a smile.

Carol turned back to the map and swept aside the points for later. Various planets and galaxies showed on the projection. “Where were they last, and where were they headed?”

“We were 22 jump points out of Asgard, headed toward Earth, when Thanos attacked.” Thor approached the map and zoomed into the region of space where they had been.

It was a start. Carol nodded and fished a small communicator out of her suit. She had made a bunch of them, smaller and longer-range than the pager she had given Fury all those years ago, and distributed them to friends around the universe. She handed it to Thor. “If you hear anything from them, let me know. I’ll bring them here. I promise.”

Thor couldn’t manage to say anything else. He gave a small nod and left the room.

****

When she found the Asgardians they weren’t in great shape. Out of fuel and needing repairs, they had put down on a small planet inhabited only by strange sphere-shaped animals. One by one she towed the ships to a nearby space port where they were able to trade the small vessels for a larger one. The escape ships weren’t worth much—the Grandmaster’s leisure vessel had been the most valuable—but Carol called in a favor with the harbor master and got them a nice-sized fast ship with a good jump drive. On the way back she rode with them. She had promised to bring them to Thor, and she never broke her promises.

“He’s in bad shape,” she told Valkyrie as they jumped steadily across the galaxy. “I’m hoping seeing you all will bring him back from the edge, but I’m not sure.”

“He’s been through a lot. We all have. We’ll get through it.” Valkyrie’s voice was steely with resolve, and Carol admired her determination, but she was worried about all of them. She had been to Asgard once at Odin’s invitation, years ago when Thor was away on one of his adventures. The number of Agardians left now was shocking, and Carol thought that seeing the ragged collection of what was left of them might not make Thor feel any better.

Thor’s beacon showed him outside Tønsberg, Norway, and his response to her ping was that they were cleared to land. Watching the Asgardians stumble gratefully out into the high-latitude sun, she got that warm feeling that she lived for, that drove her to help people. She followed them out and smiled as Valkyrie gave Thor a big hug; the warrioress had definitely not seemed like the hugging type. Their relief was palpable. Thor seemed happy to see them, but the sadness underneath never left him.

He gave her a melancholy smile as she approached. “Thank you,” he said sincerely.

“It was my pleasure. I hope you all can be happy here.” She stuck out her hand and Thor grasped it, then unexpectedly pulled her into a hug.

“My people will be,” he whispered into her ear, and she noticed that he had left himself out of that statement. He pulled back and tried to hand back the communicator she had given him.

“Keep it,” she said, closing his hand back around the device. “Just in case.”

“We don’t have much, but we’d love to thank you with a dinner,” Valkyrie said, being the diplomat.

Carol turned to her and smiled. “That would be lovely, but I must get going.” She clasped hands with Valkyrie, then gave a small salute to her and Thor. “Until we meet again.”

Thor inclined his head and Valkyrie saluted back as Carol triggered her helmet and shot up out of the Earth’s atmosphere.


	2. it was always a haze

_Earth, 2023_

When Carol caught sight of Thor across the battlefield she had been shocked. At first she couldn’t believe her eyes; that couldn’t possibly be the Thor she knew five years ago. But if she squinted she could see him under the hair and flesh, and the lightning had confirmed it. She didn’t get a chance to speak to him during the fight, and the immediate aftermath had seemed a poor time for catching up when he had lost a good friend. She found Valkyrie instead. The Asgardian looked regal on her pegasus, and Carol rubbed the muzzle of the magnificent beast as she approached.

“You’re looking good,” Carol said, smiling up at her.

Valkyrie smirked. “You’re not looking half bad yourself. I like the haircut.”

“It is _so_ low maintenance.” Carol unconsciously ran a hand through her short hair. “How is New Asgard?”

The smirk faltered on Valkyrie’s face. “We’re managing. It’s been tough, rebuilding. More people will help, although we’ve just doubled in size without anywhere to put anyone. I’m honesty not sure what will happen now.”

She stared off across the destruction and Carol followed her gaze over to where Thor stood with Steve and Bruce. “That’s… surprising.”

Valkyrie snorted. “That’s what five years of beer-fueled depression will do to you. I haven’t seen him with this much purpose since… well since Thanos hit our ship those years ago. Maybe finishing this will knock some sense into him.”

Carol had to admit that despite the grim setting he seemed lighter in spirits than she had ever seen him. He was clearly sad for the loss of Tony, but his shoulders were straighter and his head held higher. The black cloud that seemed to be permanently following him was gone.

“You should come visit us,” Valkyrie said, interrupting Carol’s thoughts. “Just maybe make sure it’s summer.”  
  
Carol laughed. “I would have thought you’d be used to snow.”  
  
“Me? I lived on Sakaar for more years than I care to mention. They don’t do winter in Sakaar. Or seasons really.”  
  
“You really must tell me more about it some day. I have to admit I’ve steered clear of Sakaar after hearing about the contest of champions.”

“It’s a trash heap. Literally. But it was pretty fun. You’d have nothing to worry about, from what I saw here. Blow them all out of the water,” Valkyrie said with admiration.

Carol smirked. “Oh I didn’t think I’d lose. I just am not a huge fan of killing people for sport.”

“Fair enough. You know, he talks about you every so often,” the Asgardian said, nodding toward her wayward king. “Not a lot. Just wonders what you’re up to. It’s a little weird, honestly.”

Carol looked at her in surprise. “No one else? Just me?”

“Just you. Well, and Rocket. Who would have thought he’d be besties with a rabbit?”  
  
“Rocket’s not a… never mind,” Carol said, shaking her head. Thor looked over at them, waved awkwardly, then quickly turned away.

“See?” Valkyrie said, “weird.”

Carol had to agree.

****

“Does Thor seem to be acting weird to you?”

Fury glanced over at her out of his good eye. “You mean besides the beer belly and the wild-man hair? I always thought that guy was weird. This just confirms it. Why do you ask?”

Carol shrugged. “No reason.”

They stood for a moment in silence, staring out at the lake. The ceremony had been lovely, and it was nice that she had been included. There were so many people she didn’t know that were back now, she had felt like a stranger again. Fury’s presence was comfortably familiar.

“So I guess aging is not a thing you’re doing now,” he said, breaking the silence.

“Guess not. Can’t say the same about you,” she smirked.

Fury faked a look of insult. “Hey now. I’m not old, I’m distinguished.”

She gave him a playful nudge and they laughed. God it was good to see him. They stood again in silence, enjoying each other’s company.

“I think he’s avoiding me.”

Fury raised an eyebrow. “Are we talking about Thor again? When did you two even meet?”

“After the snap. The big one. I got your signal and came to help. Not that it did much good.”

“And you two—what? Am I missing something here?”

Carol rolled her eyes at him. “No, we were just friendly. I was just worried about him. He was barely speaking when I left again. And then… _this_ happened,” she explained, gesturing toward the god standing across the lawn.

“Uh huh,” he said, not looking totally convinced at her answer.

“Just help me corner him, ok?” she sighed.

“Whatever you say.” Fury headed off toward Thor, while Carol slipped around the house to come up behind him. She watched as Thor awkwardly talked with Fury; she got the sense that they hadn’t done much in the way of chatting before. Thor looked relieved when Fury excused himself to go talk to Pepper, until he turned and ran smack into Carol.

“Carol. Hi,” Thor said uncomfortably, looking off into the distance. “You’re looking good.”

“How are you doing, Thor?” she asked with concern.

“Oh, I’m fine,” he said quickly. Then he took a breath, tugging on his long beard. “I’m… better. It’s not just Thanos and undoing the snap,” he said, responding to her questioning look. “I had a talk with my mom.”  
  
“I thought your mom was dead?” she interrupted, taken by surprise.

“When we went back to get the stones,” he started explaining, and she realized that she didn’t really know what had happened to get the stones in the present. In the battle someone had shouted about getting them to the van, and she had tried to take them there before Thanos had intervened. She was realizing that there was a lot more that they had not told her. What would have happened had she made it to the van?

Thor was still speaking. “She told me things I needed to hear.”

Carol shoved the thoughts of the stones out of her mind and put a hand on his arm. “I’m glad to hear that. Your people will be happy to have you back.”  
  
“Oh I’m not staying in New Asgard,” he replied, “I’m like you! I can’t be tied to one place for too long.”  
  
She looked at him, agog. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I know, I know,” he said, waving his hand. “I’m supposed to rule. Look how that worked out. These past five years, I was useless. I can’t face them.”

“I’m sure they’ll understand…”

He shook his head. “After all of this, I need some time. I know I’m still worthy, but I don’t feel it. Looking back now I am honestly disgusted. I let myself get like this,” he gestured down to his belly, “At the time I didn’t care, but then when Bruce and Rocket pulled me out of there, I realized how far gone I was. I didn’t want anyone to see me like this. Certainly not the Avengers. Not my mother. Not you.” He finished quietly, getting slightly red in the face behind his beard.

“Don’t you’re people need you? You’re still their king…”

“My people deserve better. My mother said, ‘Be who you are, not who you are supposed to be.’ I know it’s my destiny to be the king of Asgard, but that’s not who I am right now. Someday I may become that person. Time will tell.”

“I don’t understand,” she said, looking at him with a furrowed brow. “Who will lead them if not you?”

“Valkyrie has been ruling them in my name for the last five years. She deserves to do so in her own. She’ll make a worthy king.”

Carol stared at him for a minute, trying to process what she was hearing. “Where will you go?” she asked eventually.

Thor smiled. “My friend Rabbit has offered me a place with them. Some adventures will do me good.”

At first she had no idea what to say. This seemed crazy to her. The son of Odin, _not_ taking the crown? Then again, Odin didn’t exactly sit around Asgard in his youth. She knew the stories. A miserable king would do no one any good. She had no doubt that Valkyrie would be an able queen—Carol had seen her leadership firsthand on the refugee ships—although she wondered if Thor had run this by his friend yet.

“I’m happy for you, Thor,” she said genuinely. “I wish you all the best. Maybe we’ll run into each other out there.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this in part to try to reconcile the Thor from the end of Ragnarok, who cared so much about his people and was ready to rule, with the Thor at the end of Endgame. I wish we had seen Thor talking about his departure and handoff of leadership as not just something that was good for him in the long run but also good for his people. At least that he had spent time considering it. Anyway. 
> 
> Fun adventures in upcoming chapters. :)


	3. something new to pass the days

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're all post-Endgame from here on out! It's time for adventures!

_Xandar Cluster, Tranta System, Andromeda Galaxy, first quarter 2025 (two years later)_

Carol jumped in and scanned the area for the origin of the signal. It wasn’t properly a distress signal, and it hadn’t come from one of her transponders, so she might have ignored it but she had a bit of a lull so she thought she’d check it out. The broadcasted message had just said, “ _Assistance required. Bring the big guns._ ” It was oddly cryptic, and it didn’t have a sender attached.

She locked into the signal and flew over toward it. Somehow she wasn’t surprised when the familiar shape of the Benatar came into view. She floated in front of the windshield and smirked as the Guardians inside squinted at the light surrounding her. Tapping into their comms, she quipped, “Fancy running into you here.”

“We’re the ones who sent you the message!” Mantis provided helpfully.

Rocket rolled his eyes. “She _knows_ that. You people never understand sarcasm.”

“What’s up?” Carol asked.

“We’ve got a job but we need some extra muscle,” Rocket started.

“For the record, I did not think we needed any help,” Quill interrupted.

“There you go with the death wish thing again. Some of us didn’t spend the last five years resting and would like to live a bit longer.”

“I was not resting,” Drax said from behind them. “I was thinking of killing Thanos.”  
  
“You were not. The spider-boy told us what it was like,” Rocket replied.

“Killing Thanos was not all it’s cracked up to be,” Thor put in.

“I am Groot.”  
  
Rocket nodded. “Thank you, Groot. Why is he the only one who knows what’s going on?”  
  
“Guys? As fun as this is, can we get to the point?” Carol broke in.

“See that moon over there?” Rocket pointed behind her and Carol turned. “Some guy named Cornelius decided to turn it into a weapon.”

“He went all Darth Vader and turned it into a giant laser gun,” Quill continued. “Now he’s threatening to destroy the nearby planets within his range.”

“Does he have that capability?” Carol asked.  
  
“He’s been slowly vaporizing the other moon,” Nebula explained. “It seems he’s not bluffing.”

Carol nodded. “And you guys can’t just go down there and take him out? One of your patented ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ operations?”

“That’s what I said!” Quill responded. “We already have _him_ ,” he whispered to Rocket, gesturing at Thor, “I don’t understand why we need her. What can she do that we can’t?” he whispered at Rocket.

Rocket whispered back. “Gimme a break! You saw her at the battle on Earth. She’s pretty much invincible.”

“And she is much faster than all of you,” Nebula whispered.

“She is not stronger than me,” Drax half-whispered.

“No one said anything about that, but she is,” Rocket hissed.

“You all know I can hear you, right?” Carol finally said. They turned and looked at her sheepishly. “What cut do I get if I agree to help you?”  
  
“Oh well seein’ as you usually do these things out of the goodness of your heart…” Rocket started.

“An even cut,” Thor interrupted from the back of the ship.

Quill swore at him, and Rocket sighed. “Yeah, that’s what I was going to say.”

Carol smirked. “Sounds fair to me. I think our planning would be better done inside. Wanna open a hatch?”

Mumbling under his breath, Quill grudgingly depressed a button and a hatch in the rear of the ship opened. Carol swooped up inside and smiled at the assembled Guardians. They all approached the projection and Rocket pulled up a schematic of the moon.

“The reason we can’t just go down there and take him out is that the moon is surrounded by an impenetrable force field. It opens only when he’s doing a test run of the laser, and only at the point where the beam exits, here.” He indicated one side of the moon. “Also, the surface of the moon is covered by motion-sensing guns. Even if we get in the force field, getting through to the building where he’s hiding is nigh impossible.”

“This guy’s a real piece of work,” Carol said.

“That’s putting it mildly,” Nebula replied.

“So what do you want me to do?” Carol asked.

“The opening is too small to get a ship through before the laser fills it,” Quill admitted.

“But you’re fast, so you slip in before the laser goes and take out the force field generator,” Rocket explained.

“How long do I have to get through there?”  
  
“Approximately two seconds.”

“Ah. Ok, well what then? You said the ground was covered with guns?”

Quill zoomed into the moon’s surface and brought up a map of the buildings. “Once the force field is down we’ll come in. You and Thor are aerial support. Draw fire from the motion sensor guns and take out as many as you can to clear a path. Drax, Nebula, and Mantis will go get Cornelius. Me, Groot, and Rocket will go disarm the weapon.”

“From what we can tell the big gun is very unstable,” Rocket explained, “So whatever you do don’t hit it.”

“Piece of cake,” Carol said sarcastically.

“We tracked the signature of the weapon charging, and it should be ready to fire in an hour,” Nebula said. “That’s when we’ll make our move.”

The briefing over, they dispersed to prepare for the operation. Carol found Thor polishing Stormbreaker in a corner of the ship. Crossing her arms in front of her, she leaned on the wall next to him. “Good to see you again,” she said, smiling. “You’re looking good.”  
  
Thor looked up at her. His hair was short again, and his beard trimmed, but the biggest difference was that he had returned to his fit physique. The muscles in his arms rippled under his skin as he scrubbed the axe.

“It’s good to see you too,” he said with a half smile. “What have you been up to?”  
  
Carol shrugged. “Oh you know, fighting bad guys, righting wrongs. You?”

“Same,” Thor chuckled.

“You know you didn’t have to wait until you guys were facing down an impossible job to call me.”

She could have sworn he flushed slightly, but in the uneven light in the ship it was hard to say. “We figured you were busy,” he replied. “And I left the communicator you gave me on Earth with Valkyrie, in case she needed help.”

“I’m pretty sure she is more than capable of taking care of herself,” she said playfully.

“Oh yes, I’m sure of that,” he grinned. “But she is taking care of a whole kingdom now.”

“When’s the last time you visited them?” she asked.  
  
Thor sighed. “It’s been a while. We are rarely in the area. I could take the bifrost in, but not back here.”

“Believe me, I understand. I hope it doesn’t take you 25 years to get around to it.”

Thor looked like he was about to say something, but he was interrupted by Quill’s call from across the ship. “It’s go time! Let’s do this!”

“See you after,” Carol said, then triggered her helmet and walked to the hatch.

“The laser will fire in two minutes,” Nebula told her, sending some coordinates to Carol’s suit. “Here’s your access point.”

Carol dropped out of the ship and flew down to the point Nebula had given her. She watched as the Benatar pulled up to just outside the force field, ready to go. The gun below her began humming, and the field in front of her began slowly opening.

“I hope you didn’t figure this into the two seconds,” she said over the comms. Not waiting for a reply, she shot through the hole the instant it looked big enough to fit her, barely avoiding the laser that shot through the opening half a second later. The generator was exposed and she blew it up, shutting down the force field around the moon.

“Good work, now everyone, don’t screw this up,” Rocket said as he piloted the ship down toward the surface. Immediately, the motion activated guns started firing on the ship.

Carol rushed down toward them, narrowly evading the guns that shot after her, and destroyed a wide swath of guns along the path of the ship. They were below her when she saw Thor jump out, Stormbreaker in hand. Lightning streaked out of him and somehow down from the cloudless sky, exploding guns along the ground. She followed the Benatar, trying to take out as many guns as possible. They had a pretty long range, though, and guns farther away in all directions were swiveling toward the movement. The two of them held off the fire as well as they could as the remainder of the Guardians made the surface.

Turning, she saw Thor flying toward her. Tendrils of lightning arced out from his body, exploding missiles as they approached him. She was stationary and thus not expecting any fire, but apparently Cornelius himself had other plans. Thor shouted, “Behind you!” at her and she started turning when a blast took her full in the back. She heard him yell again as stars burst in her vision and she fell toward the surface. She was dimly aware of the motion-sensor guns firing at her, but somehow nothing hit her. She crashed hard into the surface, taking out a battery of guns as she did. Groaning, she tried to push herself out of the hole she had made in the ground but every part of her body was screaming at her.

Thor was yelling her name as he landed near her, and she squinted up at him. “Carol! Are you ok?” he shouted as he rushed toward her.

“Ow,” she croaked, unable to respond in any other way.

Relief washed over Thor’s face. “You’re ok, you’re ok. Can you get up?” He tried to grab her arm and she waved him off.  
  
“Gimme a minute, yeah? You have to tell Nebula that Cornelius isn’t where we thought he would be,” she managed, “he had to have fired that gun.”

Thor looked at her incredulously. “I can’t leave you here!”

“Yeah, you can. GO!” she yelled at him. For a moment he looked like he was going to argue with her again, then he swore and took off toward the main building.

Carol groaned and laid back down inside the crater. Distantly she heard yelling and gunfire, lightning strikes, and then silence. The motion sensor guns had stopped firing. The laser had stopped humming. Was it over? She couldn’t bring herself to care that much. She was going to be so sore in the morning.

She must have passed out briefly because the next thing she knew, Thor was carrying her as he walked up the ramp into the Benatar. She looked up at him groggily and he smiled down at her. She wanted to object and say that she could walk herself into the ship, but she didn’t have the energy and she wasn’t so sure that it was true. She felt a hand on her forehead and heard Mantis proclaim that she was exhausted and drained; Carol was pretty sure they didn’t need an empath to tell them that. Thor shoo’d them away as best he could with her in his arms and carried her into a quieter area of the ship. She winced involuntarily as he laid her on the bed, pain shooting around her back from where she had been hit. That sent Thor into a flurry of activity, fussing with the pillow and worrying about her injuries. The absurdity of the situation—the god of thunder fretting over her like a nurse—hit her and she burst out laughing.

Thor stopped, looking at her in bewilderment, and several other heads popped in the door. She couldn’t stop laughing, though, at least until it morphed into coughing and a series of ‘ow’s.

“What’s so funny?” Rocket asked from the doorway.

Carol shook her head, trying to catch her breath. “Nothing, nothing. I’m fine, you don’t need to fuss over me. Let me get some sleep and I’ll be back to normal tomorrow.” None of them moved. “Get. All of you.” They started leaving and she closed her eyes. She laid still for a minute but had the feeling she wasn’t alone. She cracked one eye to see Thor sitting in a corner.

“You’re not very good at following orders,” she murmured.

He grinned. “Not at all. Can I get you anything?”  
  
“How about a stiff drink.”

He walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, pulling out a small flask from a pocket. “One sip of this should take care of you.”

She took the flask and sipped. She felt the liquor sear her throat and then warmth growing from her stomach. “Not bad,” she smirked, handing the flask back to him. “Thanks.”

It somehow made her sleepier than she had been already, and her eyelids fluttered. Just before she slipped off to sleep she had a hazy impression of Thor pushing a lock of hair out of her face and covering her with a blanket


	4. now you turn the lights up bright

_Vrellnex, Cetsin System, third quarter 2025 (5 months later)_

This was not going well.

It wasn’t completely terrible, either, but the operation was not as easy as she had first thought. The Vrellnexians were as numerous as the insects they resembled, and their ships were fast. She spun in the air, rapidly shooting down anything within range with the exception of the big ships. A seemingly endless supply of small warcraft poured out of them, but she couldn’t destroy them. _Damn them_. If she could only get a chance to get to the surface, she could locate the queen and force an armistice. That was easier said than done.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw a flash of orange as a ship jump into the fray. She almost blasted it reflexively, but something made her pause.

“Hey Danvers, looks like you’re catching some heat here,” a voice called over her comms.

She turned to see the Benatar streaking toward her position. “You could say that,” she said, blasting through another ship.

“Why don’t you just take out the big ones?” Quill asked.

“The Vrellnexians are slavers, and those are slave ships. I take out the big ones, thousands of innocent people die.”

“Oh. Yeah, that makes sense.”

Carol zoomed through another ship, blasting several others as she went. “So are you guys gonna just sit there, or help me?”

“I’m _trying_ to think of a plan,” Quill said.

“Here’s the plan: you guys get to the surface. Find the queen and hold her hostage. She’ll be well-guarded. Don’t get killed.”  
  
“ _That_ is a plan,” Rocket said. “On it.”

The Benatar dropped down toward the surface and she tailed it, blasting ships that were attempting to take it out. It skidded to a halt outside the entrance to the tunnels and the Guardians came running out, armed to the teeth. She saw Thor’s red cape flapping behind him as several lightning bolts dropped down and zapped several Vrellnexians coming after them.

“Seal the entrance!” someone called over the comms, “We’ll blast our way out!” The comms crackled and cut out randomly, getting worse the deeper they went underground. Thor ducked inside and brought a lightning bolt down behind him, turning the tunnel to rubble. Carol could see several more entrances from her vantage point with Vrellnexians streaming into them. She zipped toward the openings, sealing them and preventing the insectoids from following the Guardians.

There was almost a lull as the battle continued. Blasting through ships and zapping small craft became routine, and she almost yawned. She wondered what they were doing down there, but the comms cut out long ago. The Vrellnexian’s warcraft seemed inexhaustible, but surely eventually they would cease?

An explosion behind her blew open one of the sealed entrances, and through the smoke and dust she saw Quill emerge first, carrying the small Vrellnexian queen under his arm. One by one the Guardians came out, all save Thor. At the sight of their queen in captivity, the battle came to a sudden halt. She flew down toward them, entering the lower atmosphere so fast she started glowing red. Everyone drew back instinctively as she pulled up before hitting the ground running.

“Keep her safe! We need her alive!” she yelled at Quill, not waiting to hear his response. Rocket shouted something after her, but she wasn’t listening.

Carol wasn’t really thinking, just acting. She ran into the exploded tunnel, looking for any sign him. “THOR!” she yelled, cupping her hands around her mouth. There was no response. Further and further she went into the tunnel, passing hundreds of dead Vrellnexians, but not the smallest indication that the god had been this way. She called his name over and over again until she was hoarse. Her comms crackled but she was getting no signal this deep. She reached a fork in the tunnels and stopped, trying to catch her breath. Flying was easy, running through rubble and body-strewn tunnels was not. _Get a grip, Danvers_ , she told herself, doubled over and sucking the stagnant air. This is why she worked alone: she couldn’t bear to lose an ally in an operation. Stark’s death had been harder on her than she let on, and now she had lost someone else. _God dammit, why did I let them help?_

With a roar of frustration she shot upwards, blasting through feet of solid rock until she made the surface. White hot rage was coursing though her, and as she flew over to the assembled combatants she saw them shield their eyes against her blinding light. When she got like this, burning like a sun, no good would come of it. She landed hard and everyone shrank back from her. She stalked over to the queen standing in front of Quill and grabbed her by whatever passed for a throat. Chitin sizzled under her grip, and the queen shrieked. The nearby Vrellnexians looked terrified.

“WHERE IS HE?” Carol demanded, her grip tightening.

“Danvers! We tried to tell you…” Quill started, then stopped as she rounded on him.

“WHAT?” she snarled, nearly tossing the queen back toward him.

“He’s just rounding up the rest of this hive so none of them escape without us knowing,” Rocket finished, crossing his hands in front of him as Thor came flying up behind him.  
  
Carol blinked, uncomprehending, her luminescence fading.

“Hey guys, what’s up?” Thor asked, grinning.

Rocket smirked. “You wanna tell him or should we?”

Carol needed to cool off. Without saying anything she turned around and walked off leaving all of them behind. A ways off she found a slab of concrete and sat, trying to figure out what had just happened.

A few minutes later she heard someone approaching behind her and a deep voice said, “Carol?”

She didn’t turn or acknowledge his presence. Why couldn’t they just leave her alone? Alone was the way she was meant to be.

He did not get the hint. Instead he sat next to her on the slab, staring off across the ruined landscape. “Do you want to talk?”

“Not really.”

Thor nodded. “Ok.”

So they sat in silence. At first the tension was palpable, but he didn’t leave. Neither did he demand anything of her. He was just there, apparently for her. The thought surprised her as she realized that the tension was gone.

“I work alone,” she said as a prologue, breaking the silence. Thor didn’t reply, accurately judging that she just needed to get this out there. “It’s hard enough when I lose people I’ve just met in an operation. I can’t handle losing friends. It’s always been that way.”

“I understand,” he said, and she knew he did. “But that sounds very lonely to me.”  
  
“Being lonely is easier than being hurt.”

“Losing the ones you love is terrible,” he replied sagely, “but never seeing them because you fear losing them is worse.”

Carol looked at him, but he stared fixedly out to the horizon. When did he get so wise? They sat in silence again and she stared at the ground. For thirty years she avoided anyone she called a friend, afraid that the trouble that followed her would harm them. She thought she was protecting them, and maybe she was in a way. But seeing Fury again, meeting the Avengers and getting to know the Guardians… all of these friends, working together. They made that choice, and they certainly dealt with loss, but it seemed that they gained so much more than they lost. She wasn’t sure if she could do it.

“We should get back,” he eventually said, breaking the silence.

She nodded and got up, then turned and held out a hand to him. He smiled as took it, pulling himself off the low seat. On the way back he put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a small squeeze. Surprised, she looked up at him but he kept looking forward, a small smile playing on his lips.

When they joined the rest, the Guardians had already brokered a deal with the Vrellnexians. Carol was slightly annoyed—this had been _her_ job—but in the end they achieved more than she had been hoping for. Nebula had volunteered to oversee the repatriation of the slaves, and the Vrellnexian queen had, under duress, signed an anti-slavery accord good through the remainder of her life.

“This calls for a celebratory drink,” Rocket announced as they started walking back toward the ship. When Carol didn’t immediately follow, he said, “Well, you’re coming, right?”

“I should get going,” she replied hesitantly. Spending time with them could set a dangerous precedent. Friends that she actually saw regularly? That she worked with?

“C’mon, one drink?” Quill said, “You have time for that.”

“It wouldn’t be a proper celebration without you,” Thor added.

Her lips curved into a smirk. “One drink,” she acquiesced, walking toward them, “then I’m out of here before you losers rub off on me.”

“Oh? Is that why you blew a fuse back there?” Rocket teased as they all walked back toward the ship.

“I was certain you were going to kill that insect,” Drax said.

“I wasn’t going to kill her, I just needed her to talk,” Carol replied defensively.

“You were definitely going to kill her,” Quill agreed.

“I was not!” she laughed as the ramp closed behind them.

Despite the Benatar’s thick hull, anyone outside would have certainly heard the unmistakable sounds of uproarious laughter, clinking glasses, and camaraderie until the ship passed out of the atmosphere and into the vacuum of space.


	5. I was liquored and blind then

_Outpost P-284, Psori System, fourth quarter 2025 (2 months later)_

The fight down the block was keeping her up. Carol didn’t usually get involved in minor brawls, but this one was preventing her from sleeping. She had just gotten done with a draining job, and she just wanted some peace and quiet. This was usually a sleepy outpost, but tonight not so much. There would be no sleep tonight until these assholes cut it out. She sighed and pushed herself out of the hard bed, walking to the window. The fight itself was hidden behind a building, but she could hear the sounds of it. There were some flashing lights from the area, so she figured one of the fighters must have some kind of photon tech. With that in play she knew she should break it up before someone got killed.

She made her way down the stairs and shuffled out into the street. She wasn’t in a rush; if one of them got mildly hurt it would probably do them good. The night was clear and cloudless, so when a rumble of thunder echoed among the buildings Carol got a sinking feeling in her stomach. Then a bolt of lightning struck in front of her and she started running. When she rounded the corner she saw what she had feared: Thor, surrounded by six guys, two more writhing on the ground. The other Guardians were nowhere to be found. Lightning arced around the god and he was winding up, about to shoot a bolt directly at his attackers.

“Thor, wait!” she yelled as she dashed in front of him. She grabbed his fist, pushing him backwards away from the men. At least one took the opportunity to run off. “What’s going on here?” she demanded.

“They—they’re talkin’ ‘bout things they don’ know ‘bout,” Thor slurred, and she realized he was drunk.

She grabbed his shoulder and shook it. “Hey, look at me. Look at me!” Thor had been glaring at the men, but he finally turned his attention to her. She saw pain and anger in his eyes. They had apparently gotten a few blows in, because his lower lip was split and a bruise was growing over his right cheek.

“They said I abandoned my people,” he said quietly, but then he tried to lunge out of her hands toward the men, “I didn’t! I didn’t!”

Carol struggled to keep ahold of him. “Thor! Don’t let them bait you! They’re not worth it!” He snarled but said nothing. “Hey, where is your axe? Where is Stormbreaker?”  
  
“Guardians have it,” he mumbled, still staring at the men down the street.

How this had all happened was very confusing to her. “And where are they?”

“Left me here. Said I’m too drunk, they’ll come get me tomorrow.”

Carol shook her head. “And they thought would wouldn’t get into trouble without your axe. Fat lot of good that did. C’mon, let’s go,” she said, trying to drag him away. Thor struggled against her and started lighting up again, trying to bring down more lightning. She punched him in the gut, and he doubled over. “Stay here.”

She walked back toward the remaining men, fists glowing. “You,” she growled, “what do you think you’re doing, baiting a god? You’re lucky you’re leaving with your lives. Get out of here, and if I hear that you’re causing problems again you won’t be so lucky.” This time they all turned and fled, realizing that taunting a drunk was one thing, but tangling with her was out of their league. She walked back to Thor, who was still partly doubled over.

“I coulda taken ‘em,” he huffed.

“Yeah, you could have. That’s the problem. You’re gonna get yourself sent to prison. C’mon, come with me.” She pulled one of his arms over her shoulders and helped him down the street back toward the place she was staying. She had to get him off the streets and sobered up. As she was hauling him down the street she felt the tension leave his body and he leaned hard on her. _Good lord he’s heavy,_ she thought as she dragged him up the stairs. He also must have not completely discharged because she kept feeling sparks. Leaving him on the bed, she went to get a glass of water. When she got back he was hunched over, staring at the floor. She drew up a chair across from him.

“Wanna tell me what’s going on? I thought you didn’t get drunk anymore, after what happened before,” she said with concern, putting the glass in his hand.

Thor just slowly shook his head, still staring at the floor. For a minute she thought he wasn’t going to say anything. “Do you know what today is?” he said quietly.

“Of course I do. Everyone does.”

“I don’t let him get to me anymore. I don’t. But today is always hard. A reminder of my failure. If I had done it right the first time, Tony would still…”

“Hey,” she interrupted him, leaning forward to take his hand. He finally looked up at her. “Don’t. That’s not on you. Either everyone is to blame or no one is to blame. By the time he had even one of the stones, there was only one way.”

For a moment he was quiet. “They’re right, you know. I’m not worthy. I abandoned my people. Everything I fought for, everything I learned: I threw it away those five years.”  
  
“For one, even at your lowest point that wasn’t true. You know that. It’s certainly not true now. Don’t let people get in your head. And you didn’t abandon them, you left them in the best hands I can think of.” When he didn’t respond, she asked, “Have you visited them?”

He shook his head.

“Tomorrow, when you get your axe back, you take the bifrost and you go see them. You’ll see how well they’re doing and you’ll know you made the right call. Promise me you’ll do it.”

He looked into her eyes, and she could see the pain and uncertainty in his. “I promise.”

“Now you need to get some sleep.”

He didn’t resist as she gently pushed him back on the bed. She was pretty sure he was out before his head hit the pillow. Apparently not quite, though, because when she grabbed the side of his cape to pull it over him like a blanket the corners of his mouth twitched up and he murmured, “You’re so good for me.”

Carol froze, not believing what she had just heard. “What?” she breathed.

But he was actually out this time, snoring softly. She stood over him for a moment, too tired to make sense of his statement. Then she realized that he was in her bed and she had nowhere to sleep. Swearing under her breath, she sat back down in the chair.

She was staring out the window when he woke up, her hands wrapped around a stimulant drink. Today was going to suck. She had barely slept and her back was sore from sitting all night. She heard him sit up behind her.

“Carol? Is that you? Where am I?” he asked groggily. She turned to see him squinting at her.

“You’re in my hotel room. You passed out,” she offered.

Thor looked really confused. “What happened?” he asked, touching the bruise on his cheek.

“You were drunk, you got in a fight. I rescued you.”

“That doesn’t sound right,” he replied with a furrowed brow.

She smirked. “Well, it happened. Do you remember what you promised me?”

Thor stared at her for a moment, clearly wracking his brain. She could see the moment when the memories of the night before came flooding back. “I remember,” he said finally.

She waited for a minute, but no other revelations were forthcoming. If he remembered what else he had said to her, he wasn’t speaking up. She walked over to a small table and poured a cup of water. Digging a small packet out of her pocket she dumped the contents into the cup. She handed it to him.

He took a hesitant sip. “This tastes terrible!”  
  
“Just drink it,” she laughed, “It’ll make you feel better.”

Grimacing, he drank the whole thing in one go. He crumpled the cup in his hand and threw it across the room. Carol continued sipping hers. The Kree stimulant was an acquired taste, to be sure, but the bitterness never failed to help her focus. She wandered back over to the window as he got up, looking at his face in the mirror.

“Carol?” he said after a while, breaking the silence.

“Hmmm?”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it,” she replied, smiling. “What else are friends for?”


	6. then you walked through the door

_Outpost X-540, Arcturian System, second quarter 2026 (4 months later)_

This bar had prime people-watching. That’s why she was here, sitting in a corner and nursing a drink. She had received no signals in the last day, so she was killing time. Sometimes watching here had the benefit of alerting her to problems that she wouldn’t normally know about. So far, though, not much had happened tonight.

As the night wore on, more and more people crowded into the bar; it was among the hottest locations in the system, and people came from large distances to see and be seen. The gambling tables were hopping, offering a variety of interesting ways for people to lose their money. Carol never partook, but eavesdropping on the deals people brokered over the tables could be edifying.

“Well I’m not an animal, so there should be no problems,” a familiar voice rang out. After a pause, it continued, “Whaddaya mean, I ain’t tall enough? Can you believe this guy, Groot?”

“I am Groot.”

“Don’t you know who I am?” a low voice rumbled.

“Drax, no!” another yelled.

Conversation was faltering in the bar as attention turned toward the door. Carol threaded her way through the gathering people and found the ragtag crew standing at the entrance. Several burly guards blocked the door, but Carol didn’t like their chances. Quill was barely holding Drax back, Rocket had pulled a large gun out of nowhere, and Nebula was staring with a look of bloody murder on her face.  
  
“It’s ok, they’re with me,” Carol interrupted, placing a hand on one of the guard’s shoulders. The guards looked back, recognized her, and grudgingly parted to let the Guardians through.

“Danvers!” Rocket said with a smile when he saw her, “You shoulda let us take ‘em.”

Carol laughed. “It’s better if you don’t, trust me. C’mon, I’ll get you a drink.”

They followed her through the bar as the crowd parted along their path. Drinks in hand, they gathered in a corner booth recently vacated by a couple who saw Carol approaching.

“Geez, what did you do to these people?” Quill asked as he watch them flee.

“I work in this quadrant often. There’s a lot of unrest. Most of them have seen me in action at one point or another.” The Guardians all nodded appreciatively as they took seats. “So what have you been up to lately?” she asked.

Listening to them was always entertaining, and tonight was no different. The conversation took various twists and turns as they shared stories of the past months and some from before they had met. Many rounds of drinks got delivered to the table, and heads across the bar turned at the uproarious laughter. Carol could easily forget about her troubles in their company.

Eventually, well liquored, Rocket pointed across the room at one of the gaming tables. “Time to double our money,” he slurred as Quill nodded enthusiastically.

“You guys know the house always wins, right?” Carol said with a laugh.

“A house could not win against me. I would tear it down,” Drax replied.

Carol shook her head. “No, I mean…”

“Don’t bother,” Thor cut in, “We put Nebula in charge of the money anyway.”

Carol glanced over at Nebula, who was smirking. Quill, Rocket, Drax, and Groot were already halfway across the bar anyway. “I am not bailing them out if they get into trouble again,” she said.

“Who, them?” Nebula replied sarcastically.

“It’s so good to see you again, Carol,” Mantis said, placing a hand on Carol’s.

Carol narrowed her eyes slightly and the corners of her mouth curved upwards. “It’s good to see you too, Mantis, but it hasn’t been that long.”

“Oh yes, that’s the best part!” Her hand remained in place, and Carol looked at her suspiciously. Suddenly Mantis turned to Nebula. “Let’s go play that game!” she exclaimed, looking across the room.

Nebula was nonplussed. “I’d rather not.”

“ _Nebula_ , let’s go play the game,” Mantis said again. Nebula arched an eyebrow, but got up from the table. Mantis turned back to Carol. “See you guys later!”

“That was odd. What got into her?” Thor remarked as they walked away.

Carol smirked. Mantis was sometimes really obvious. She knew the empath had not-so-subtly read her, but had no idea what she thought she had learned. She shrugged. “I couldn’t say.”

“Where are you off to next?” Thor asked conversationally.

Carol thought for a moment. “I’m not sure. I don’t have anything on my plate now, oddly enough. Maybe I’ll make a visit to Earth, see how everyone is.”

“I highly recommend that. You must visit Asgard and see Valkyrie. She’s done wonders with the place. Thank you, again, for the push to go visit them,” he said sincerely.

“You did what I couldn’t for 25 years. I know how toxic it can be to convince yourself that your family doesn’t miss you.”

He pointed at her. “Well then, now you can promise me to go visit.”

“I promise,” she replied, smiling. “What are you guys up to next?”

“Another day, another job. We’re refueling and resupplying here, then leaving tomorrow morning.”

“Sleeping on the ship?”

Thor laughed. “Definitely. The docking fees are so high here a hotel is out of the question.”

“Oh you could afford a hotel here, but you might not leave with anything you brought. This is the only place with locks, and they charge a premium for it.”

“Are you staying here?” Thor asked, surprised.

“It’s expensive, but the one place on this stinking outpost that’s clean and trustworthy,” she replied. “One night on my way through is usually all I can manage, though.”

Thor looked impressed. “I heard that the roof of this place has an amazing view of the next arm of the galaxy.”

She had to stop herself from pointing out that neither of them needed a rooftop to get a good view of the stars. Looking around the crowded bar she had to admit that some fresh air would be nice. She shrugged. “Let’s check it out.”

When she got up she realized she was slightly tipsy. Apparently she had drank more than she realized. Carol could have just burned off the alcohol, but the buzz was kind of nice. She grabbed Thor’s hand and led him out of the bar down the hall to the elevator. When the doors opened he got on first, and she took the opportunity to admire his well-formed ass. Her eyes roamed appreciatively over his body. God, he was hot as hell. If he was any other guy, she would have already dragged him to her room. Well, why shouldn’t she? Alarms went off in one part of her brain but she silenced them. In the elevator she let herself stand too near him—practically against him—causing tingly sensations of electricity to travel down her spine, yet she couldn’t see any obvious signs of his lightning between them. She looked up at him with a mischievous grin and he looked down at her, blue and orange eyes both sparkling with curiosity.

 _Fuck it_ , she thought and reached behind his neck to pull his lips down to hers. He didn’t respond immediately, possibly out of surprise at what she had just done, but within a few moments he was kissing her back enthusiastically. He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her against his body and she leaned in, pushing him against the glass of the elevator. A ding announced their arrival on another floor, and the doors opened to reveal a rather bewildered old woman. Carol glanced at the floor number then grabbed Thor by his armor’s neckline and pulled him past the woman out of the elevator. They had happened to end up on her floor, and she fumbled with the key to her room. Apparently unwilling to wait, he spun her around and kissed her with wild abandon.

 _This is a bad idea_ , that nagging part of her mind said as they crashed through the door to her room and he pushed her up against the wall. _Don’t sleep with friends._ She ignored it. His insistent kisses demanded her attention, and her mind focused instead on his lips, and his teeth, and his tongue. This wasn’t slow and tender, it was nearly a battle. One moment his lips and tongue were dominating her mouth, the next she returned as good as she got. The give and take was intoxicating. Her hands fought with buckles at the side of his armor while his sought out the zipper at the back of her suit. He was surprisingly slow in unzipping it, sliding one hand in against her bare skin as it opened. His touch sent tingling bolts of electricity through her skin and she couldn’t tell if it was really lightning from his fingers or just her reaction to them.

Finally she managed to undo his armor, breaking away to tug it over his head. He took the opportunity to drag the top of her suit forward over her shoulders, and she pulled her arms out if it. The top hung off her hips but he didn’t push it further at the moment as he cupped one breast and pulled her back into a kiss. Her hands roved over his bare chest, reveling in the feel of his sculpted torso. His mouth started wandering, tracing a path down her neck and leaving fire in it’s wake.

Desire was building inside her, a pressure filling her until she felt like she might burst. “I need you,” she gasped into his ear. He got the message. His hands slipped down and pushed her suit past her hips. Her hands fumbled at his belt, but the damned thing was too flipping complicated. She growled in frustration and she felt him laugh until she grabbed the tightening region under the belt and he swore. She smirked as he unbuckled it himself and she helped push the pants over his hips and down to the floor. He kicked them to the side then totally surprised her by picking her up and carrying her over to the bed.

The rumble of an approaching storm muffled the sounds from the room, until she screamed his name and a close-by lightning bolt split the sky, followed by a thunderclap that shook the windows.

****

She woke to find Thor nearly dressed, looking for something on the ground. His hair was tousled and standing up in every direction, at odds with the look of concentration on his face. For a moment she just watched him, thinking about the previous night. It probably had been a bad idea, but _damn_ had it been good. Her typical one-night stands rarely resulted in that much pleasure, and though he was certainly a skilled lover a thought nagged at her that something was different about that night. She shook her head, as if to scatter the thought away.

When he noticed that she was awake he gave her a wide grin, and she couldn’t help but smile back. “You haven’t seen a buckle, have you? You were a little, er, enthusiastic last night,” he asked.

Wrapping the sheet around her she got out of bed and started looking around with him. As she wandered through the room she caught sight of herself in the mirror; her own hair was in disarray, with short locks falling every which way across her forehead, and there was unmistakably a hickey on her her shoulder. _Really?_

“Found it!” he called, rising from a crouch beside the bed and walking over toward her.

Carol looked at the buckle in his hand. “I really don’t remember doing that.”

“Well, you did. I’m lucky my pants are intact.”

“Yeah, and who’s responsible for this?” she replied, pointing to the hickey.

Thor came close and surprised her by grabbing her around the waist. “Mmmmm, couldn’t tell you,” he said with a giant grin on his face. Then he kissed her.

This decidedly did not happen after one-night stands. If she was lucky they left before morning so she could avoid the awkward attempts at conversation. What certainly did not happen was soft and tender kisses that caused her heart to race. And then he pulled away, still grinning.

“I gotta get going,” he said, walking toward the door as she stood there, dumbfounded, “We’re taking off for the Lomora System. See you around?”  
  
“Yeah, see ya,” she managed, waving absently. Then he was gone, leaving her wondering what had happened.


	7. always when you least expect it

_Outpost C-590, Corinum System, Draco Galaxy, first quarter 2027 (6 months later)_

When Carol ran into them she was pondering her next move. She had agreed to help the Yrds find their newly-elected president, recently abducted after his inauguration. The trail was cold, though, so she was hanging out in the system that Yrd called home, hoping for a lead. The Draco galaxy wasn’t on a lot of people’s paths through the universe, so she was surprised when she bumped into Quill working on the Benatar while asking around the space docks.

“Quill?” she said when she caught sight of him across the cavernous space. “What are you doing way out here? Where’s everyone else?”

“They’re picking up supplies. Stupid jump drive is on the fritz. We meant to jump to the Gogol system but ended up here instead. You working?”

“Kinda,” she replied. “Not having much luck. The Yrd president was abducted but I can’t find hide nor hair of him anywhere.”

Quill just stared at her, a strange look on his face.

“What?” she asked, wondering if they had heard something.

“We might, er, know about that,” he said. “The reason our jump drive ended up here is that we _were_ here a few weeks ago. We might have, um, abducted the president.”

Carol’s eyes went wide, hands clenched into fists at her side. “WHAT??”

Quill put his hands in front of him and backed away from her slightly. “To—to be fair, he asked us to!”

“Explain,” she said through gritted teeth.

“Look, I don’t know what his reasons were. A job popped up on the screen offering 50,000 units to anyone who could get him out of the system. We thought we were helping him!”

“And he went with you willingly?” she asked skeptically.

Quill nodded. “Of course! C’mon, we’re not going to kidnap someone that’s not asking for it.”

“You never asked yourselves why a newly-elected president would pay that much money to be abducted?”

“Well yeah, but… 50,000 units!”

Carol shook her head, hand pinching the bridge of her nose. None of this made any sense. “Do you know where he is now?”

“Sure, we dropped him off on Broi, in the Wyllys System. Guy doesn’t have a ship so he should still be there,” Quill replied.

“Thanks,” she said, typing coordinates into her suit and starting to turn away.

“Wait, what are you doing?”

She looked at him like he was an idiot. “I’m going to go get him?”

“Look, I think we should all go together, seeing as we were the ones who were hired to get him. Maybe there’s more to this story that you’ve been told,” he reasoned.

“Whether he’s in trouble or causing trouble, it doesn’t matter. He needs to be returned to his planet.”

He nodded. “Sure, yeah. C’mon, isn’t it better if we’re along to help?”

 _No_ , she thought, but didn’t say it. As always, working alone was better. There was too much that was weird about this, like they might be going into a trap. But she did have to admit that she might find the president sooner if they were along. “Fine,” she sighed grudgingly, crossing her arms in front of her.

“Ya wanna help me with this drive?” he called as he disappeared behind the ship again. She sighed again and walked after him.

****

Her mood was much at odds with the rest of the Guardians’. They were joking and chatting, but every time they tried to engage her she brushed them off. Something about all of this didn’t feel right. They were in between jump points and she was standing by the projection screen, reading as much about the Yrds as she could in the computer’s database, trying to get a handle on what was going on.

“How do I search this thing?” she asked to no one in particular, swiping with frustration at the screen in front of her.

No one replied, but she became aware that Thor had walked up behind her. He reached around and above her to swipe open a menu she hadn’t seen, coming so close that she could feel the warmth from his body and those damned electrical tingles again.

“Can you cut it out?” she said with annoyance, not turning around.

“Cut what out?” Thor asked, confusion apparent in his voice.

“The electricity thing. It’s distracting.” When he didn’t immediately reply she turned to look at him. When she saw the look on his face she realized that he had no idea what she was talking about. “Uh—never mind,” she said quickly, turning her attention back to the projection.

“We don’t know much about them or their civilization,” Thor offered. “I read up on them before because it seemed strange that someone would ask to be abducted.”

Carol closed the display and turned to him, arms crossed in front of her. “And you never got an explanation?”

Thor shrugged. “He said he was in grave danger. That was good enough for us.”

She had to admit that sometimes that was about as much as she operated on. Of course usually the people telling her that weren’t world leaders. She stared out at the space in front of her, trying to make sense of it.

“It’s good to see you again. It’s been a while since the Arcturian system,” he said.

 _Oh boy, here it comes_ , she thought. He was going to bring up the night they spent together. She had been judiciously avoiding being alone with Thor since she joined them, trying to delay the conversation. That night wasn’t something she had thought through ahead of time, and in the intervening months she began wishing it hadn’t happened. What if he thought it meant more than she did? What if he expected a relationship? Romantic entanglements were not something she could afford.

“Yeah,” she eventually said, “What have you been up to?” Perhaps she could steer the conversation in another direction.

To her surprise, he started chatting happily about their latest adventures, animatedly telling stories. _Ooook_ , so they weren’t going to talk about it. Apparently they were going to pretend it never happened. She could live with that. He was interrupted as they reached the final jump point. They strapped into their seats again and jumped into the space above Broi.

“That’s he asked to be dropped,” Quill said, pointing out a city. Carol left her seat and walked back toward the airlock.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Rocket called after her, unbuckling himself.

She turned to look at them. “Look, I have a bad feeling about this, and my gut isn’t usually wrong. Can you guys please stay up here at least until I’ve done some recon?”

“The Tsiln are a peaceful people…” Mantis began, but stopped when she saw the look on Carol’s face.

Rocket did not look pleased, but he said, “Ok, we’ll wait. But don’t hog all the action for yourself.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” she replied, but it was a lie. She located the Yrd president easily enough. He was barely hiding, but when she came busting into his room he looked like he was going to have a heart attack.

“Please don’t hurt her! I’ll do anything!” he screamed, and Carol realized that he wasn’t alone in the room. A small girl crouched behind him, looking terrified. Pieces began to fall into place.

“Who’s after you?” she demanded.

“Y-you?” the president stammered.

Carol sighed and shook her head. “I’m not here to hurt you. What I mean is, who are you running from? Why are you hiding?”

He didn’t look like he totally believed her, but explained anyway. “My election angered some people in high places. A man I had previously trusted, Yerl, told me that I had 24 hours to flee or they would murder my daughter.”

Carol couldn’t believe what she was hearing. They had used her, preyed on her sympathies. She was livid. “You have my word that they will pay for this, but you have to go back. Those people elected you, they need your leadership. We can help you, my friends and I. We’ll keep you and your daughter safe.”

The president shook his head. “It’s not that simple. They won’t rest until I am destroyed. I fled to another galaxy but I know it’s only a matter of time until they find me.”

“Then there’s no time to waste. Let’s go,” she said, beckoning him toward her. He had started walking toward her when an explosion outside of the building sent him and his daughter flying into her.

****

The Guardians were sitting in the Benatar, wondering what was happening. Carol had been gone for a while, and they were getting antsy. Then a ship jumped in next to them and immediately shot a giant missile toward the surface of the planet. They erupted into action, sending the ship screaming toward the surface, but the missile easily outpaced them. It exploded onto the ground as they watched helplessly from above.

****

Carol had thrown herself on top of the Yrds, protecting them as the building collapsed around them. She struggled to stand, pushing rubble out of the way. She didn’t know what had happened, but they were ok. Carol picked up the little girl and grabbed the president’s hand, pulling him to a more stable area. She looked up to see a large warship in the sky. Still holding the child, she was torn; leaving the two of them there was not an option, but she doubted that one missile was all that ship had in store.

When the Benatar came into view she almost jumped with joy. There was no place to land, but Quill and Thor dropped out of the rear hatch and flew down to where she stood with the Yrds. Quill slapped one of Rocket’s propulsion packs on the president and took the girl from Carol.

“Get them out of here!” she yelled over the sounds of crumbling buildings and sirens. “Start jumping back to Yrest! I’m going to take out these assholes, and I’ll catch up!”

“I’m staying with you!” Thor told her.

She looked at him like he was crazy. “I can go through jump points! You can’t!”

“I don’t need to,” he replied, “We can take the bifrost to Yrest. We’ll beat them there.”

Carol considered for a moment, then nodded. “Now that’s a plan. Let’s do this!”

As the Benatar sped toward the jump point, Thor and Carol shot toward the large ship. She could easily take out the large craft by herself, but she wanted proof that Yerl was behind this. She told Thor as much over the comms and they split to blast into either side of the ship. The Yrds inside the control room barely knew what was happening before Carol and Thor appeared on either side of the bridge, two sets of eyes glowing.

“Who’s in command here?” Carol demanded, and the terrified Yrds all looked involuntarily at one man. She walked over to him and put him in restraints. “You’re coming with us.”

Then she grabbed the captain by the shirt and exploded out of the front of the ship. Dragging him, she flew down to the surface while Thor sent a massive lightning bolt onto the remains of the ship, blasting it apart. Then he joined them amongst the rubble on the surface of the planet.

“Ready to go?” he asked.

Carol nodded. “How does this work?”

In response he grabbed Carol by the waist and held her tight against him. There was the electricity again, shooting down to the tips of her toes. For a moment, looking into her eyes, she forgot about the city crumbling around them, about everything else.

Then he looked over to the Yrd captain next to him and warned, “Hold on or you’ll end up in Sakaar. Trust me, you’re better off facing the justice of your people.”

Thor held up Stormbreaker and they were sucked into a tunnel that seemed to be made of sparkling crystal. Rainbows appeared at every turn, glinting off the blade of the axe and shining in his eyes. She had never seen anything like this before. Before she knew it they landed on Yrest and Carol suppressed a feeling of disappointment as Thor let go of her.

“C’mon,” she said, and the pair of them flew toward the presidential palace with the Yrd captain in tow, leaving hundreds of amazed Yrds behind. They burst through the doors and shocked a council of Yrds. Yerl stood in the center. Thor shoved the warship captain down on the ground in front of them as Carol stalked over to the leader of the coup.

“You,” she said in a murderous tone of voice, “you lied to me.”

Yerl backpedaled, stammering as he fled across the room. “W-who me? I would never! W-what lies have p-people been telling about me?”

“Try again.”

He gulped, but didn’t fold. “I have only done what is best for our people.”

She shot him full in the chest with a photon blast. It wasn’t at high enough power to kill him, but he flew across the room and slammed into a far wall. “Anyone else?” she asked, but all the Yrds were already putting their hands in the air in surrender.

The door opened behind them and the Yrd president walked in, holding his daughter and accompanied by her friends and a police force of Yrds. She smiled. “Good timing. Arrest these men.”

The Yrds threw them a lavish banquet in thanks. The food was amazing, and the drink even better. The Yrdish liquor was smooth and sweet but packed a punch that they would certainly feel in the morning. Carol tried to apologize to the president for believing the mutineers, but he wouldn’t hear of it. She had saved his life, and what’s more, the life of his child, and she would ever be welcome on their planet.

Later that night, she found Thor telling some young Yrds about one of his adventures. They were captivated as he animatedly described a battle. When he caught sight of her he smiled one of those huge goofy grins. She thought he probably rushed the last part of that story as he shoo’d the children off.

“Thanks for your help,” she said as he walked over to her.

“Of course. That’s what heroes do,” he replied, grinning.


	8. lonely rogue, never thought that I would find it

_Sarka, Tilnast System, third quarter 2027 (3 months later)_

Her would-be assassin was sneaking up on her again. The man was determined, but completely inept. This time his progress was arrested, though. She heard the assassin grunt as several blows landed home, then a bit more distantly a familiar deep voice tell a guard to take the assassin into custody.

“Did you know you had someone sneaking up behind you with a knife?” Thor asked as he settled onto a bar stool next to her.

Carol glanced over at him with a smirk. “Who, Qarl? That’s the… fourteenth? time he’s tried to assassinate me.”

“And he’s not in prison?!”  
  
She shrugged. “He always gets out.”

He was looking at her with an incredulous expression, but she didn’t elaborate. She didn’t really feel like talking today, but here he was anyway.

After a few minutes, he ventured, “Are you all right?”  
  
“Not really.”

“Oh. Well I’m here if you want to talk about it.”  
  
She didn’t, but she knew from experience that he wasn’t going to go away. Sighing, she said, “Today is the anniversary of the explosion that made me the way I am. It’s the anniversary of when the Kree abducted me and washed away my memories… took away who I am.”

Thor put his hand on hers and she resisted the urge to withdraw it. She didn’t need his pity. “Why don’t you come stay with us for a while?” he suggested eventually, “You don’t have to mark these days alone…”  
  
“I don’t have to be alone?” she snapped, pulling her hand from under his. “Alone is the only way I can be. I live alone, I work alone. Alone is who I am.”

“It doesn’t have to be,” he said simply.

“That’s you,” she said, poking her finger against his chest, “Not me. And anyway, where were your new friends when you were drinking yourself to oblivion and getting into fights last year?”  
  
He gave a small smile. “If I remember properly, you were there for me.”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it.” She turned to leave, but he grabbed her arm.

“Carol, wait. I’m just trying to say that you have friends, and we’re here for you.”  
  
“Is that what we are? Friends?” This wasn’t really the direction she had envisioned this going, but she couldn’t stop herself. As much as she wanted to bury it, she couldn’t.  
  
Thor looked genuinely confused. “Huh?”

She pulled her arm out of his grip. “You’re going to just pretend that nothing happened between us?”

“Well it seemed like what you wanted,” he replied testily, folding his arms in front of him.

“I’m not the one making drunken confessions, or sending literal sparks flying, or kissing people like _that_ ,” she hissed, louder than she wanted. They were beginning to draw attention from around the bar, including from the other Guardians across the room.

He was taken aback. “Excuse me? You kissed _me_ first.”

“That was just fun, but you had to go and make it complicated!”

“What if I want it to be complicated?”  
  
Carol stared at him, speechless. _What just happened?_ “I—I can’t—” she started, but she couldn’t finish. She didn’t know what to say. Instead she turned and left the room, and this time he let her go.

****

Of all people, Mantis was the one who found her. Carol was sitting on a roof she thought inaccessible when a door creaked open behind her and Mantis’s tranquil voice said, “He loves you, you know.”

“What, did you touch him or something?” Carol snarked, not turning.

“I didn’t need to. It’s obvious. He feels love for you.”

“ _Not_ what I need to hear right now.”

Mantis stood next to her, staring out into the night. “I think it is.”

Carol didn’t reply for a while. Then she said, “How did you find me?”

“I followed you.”

“Oh.” Carol did not think she had made it easy for anyone to follow, but apparently there was more to Mantis than met the eye.

“What will you do?” Mantis asked eventually.

“Things won’t ever go back the way they were, will they?”

“No.”

Carol sighed. “I need some time to think. Alone.”

Mantis nodded. “When I first met them I had been alone for most of my life, with only a sentient planet for a companion. Being around so many people was difficult for me at first. The emotions were overwhelming. But just because you have always been alone does not mean you must be.”

“Do you know the saying ‘You can’t go home again?’” Carol asked. Mantis shook her head. “It basically means that once you leave you can’t ever go back to the way things were. You change. Home changes. When I returned to Earth after six years with the Kree I knew it would never be the same. That’s why I left again, why I left behind the only family I’ve ever known.”

“Maybe you can’t go home again, but you can find a family. I did.” Mantis then surprised Carol by wrapping her up into a hug. “I hope we see you again soon.”

Carol went rigid when Mantis first grabbed her, but then she relaxed slightly and hugged her back. “Thanks Mantis,” she said as she extracted herself.

Mantis smiled broadly at her, then gave a little wave and retreated out the door that she had entered, leaving Carol with her thoughts.


	9. only one in the world who knows me like that

_Betelgeuse System, fourth quarter 2027 (1 month later)_

The beacon originating from the planet Cron blared incessantly. Every time she tried to turn it off it shrieked back to life a few minutes later. Carol had tried to take the last few weeks off, attempting to ignore distress signals in an effort to figure out what the Guardians—and especially Thor—meant to her. The first place she had gone after she left Sarka was to Talos. He was old by then, but she still treasured his advice over anyone else’s. For one thing, he never failed to tell her when she was being an idiot.

“This sounds really stupid to me,” he had said to her when she had told him of her plight. “You like these people? They are friends?”  
  
“Yes,” she had admitted.

“And unlike your other friends, they travel around the universe as you do?”

“Correct.”

“But you still insist that you must work alone.”

Carol sighed. “Also correct.”

“See? Stupid. Can’t you see that?” Talos scolded her.

“You know how I deal with loss.”

“Poorly,” he snorted.  
  
“Exactly!” she replied, pointing at him. “What if I get close to someone, and I lose them? I can’t handle that. I’m not that strong.”

He shook his head. “Carol, you are. You are the strongest person I know, and I don’t just mean in the punching-a-planet way. But you’re afraid, which is an unusual feeling for you, I know. Caring about people always comes with fear, but if you run away because of that fear you lose more.”

“You sound like him,” she said quietly.

Talos leaned back in his chair. “There it is. I knew there was something else. A group of friends you wouldn’t spend this much time worrying about. You’d see them every so often and be fine, like you do with everyone else. But falling in love is another matter entirely.”  
  
“I’m not in love!” she exclaimed too quickly.

He stared at her and she felt her face get hot under his gaze. “Don’t lie to yourself, Carol,” he said finally, “It’s a terrible habit to get into.”

“I’m not lying… I really don’t know how I feel.”

Talos had regarded her skeptically. “Well, _if_ you were in love, I would tell you to not waste another minute, to go and find him and tell him. I would tell you that true love is worth all the risks and all the fear.”

The beacon blaring again knocked her out of her memories of that day. Scowling, she stomped over to the computer projection and silenced it. Since it had begun sounding earlier that day it had gone off almost continuously. Obviously someone was not getting the hint. Another part of her asked what if they were really in serious trouble? It couldn’t hurt to check it out.

When she jumped into the space above Cron she couldn’t see anything amiss. The planet looked peaceful, which she knew was unlikely given the warlike nature of the populace. It was disquieting. She zeroed in on the beacon’s origin and flew cautiously toward the surface. As she got closer, she saw a canyon like an ugly gash on the surface of the planet. It seemed fairly deserted, but then she saw someone who appeared to be chained to one of the rock walls. Was that…?

“THOR!” she screamed as she went rocketing down toward him, abandoning all caution.

His head had been hanging down but he looked up as he heard her call. His eyes went wide and she heard him yell, “Carol, wait! No! It’s a tra—”

Then everything went black.

****

When she woke up she was in a dark cell, sealed on all sides by black rock that seemed to soak up the light. She felt wetness on the side of her forehead and when she withdrew her hand her fingers were covered in dark blood. Well, that had not gone according to plan.

As her eyes adjusted she looked around. There was a narrow barred window near the top of one of the walls, but it was dark outside the cell. Finding a door was nigh impossible until she detected a fine seam in one of the walls. Her first order of business was to blast the door, but when she shot a photon beam at it the dark material seemed to just soak it up without any damage. She blasted again, harder. Nothing. Her body began to glow until she was blindingly bright and her feet lifted off the ground. Putting all of her energy into it she flew at the door… and bounced off. She ricocheted into a corner and slumped to the ground, exhausted. It was impossible, but she was trapped.

Her captors didn’t seem interested in visiting. A small sliver of light came in every morning through the high thin window; it was the only thing that suggested any passage of time. It had been eight…? or maybe nine days. She had gone to sleep once in the dark and when she woke up it had still been dark, but she wasn’t sure if she had slept one hour or twelve. She didn’t know if her cell was one of many, or completely isolated. For the first few day she had yelled and shot photon blasts out the small window, hoping that someone would hear here. If they did, they did not respond. She tried shooting the walls again and again to try to weaken them, to no avail. Now she just sat, staring into space. Her lips were cracked and her face sallow from the lack of water. She was going to die in here. She had come to peace with the idea after day seven.

She she thought she was hallucinating when the door opened. There was a soft _snick_ and a hiss and the door slid smoothly into the wall. Outside the cell there was only a hallway of the same black stone. Two burly, bluish beings stood in the door, dragging a man between them. His head drooped toward the floor and she wasn’t sure he was conscious, or even alive. The tossed the man into the cell and turned to leave. Her reaction times were slow, her mind dulled, but she still managed to get off a blast. It hit one of the beings but seemed to glance off of it. She lurched toward the door, but it was closing so fast, and she got there just in time to feel it _snick_ back into place. She screamed in frustration.

The man groaned behind her. She turned and her eyes went wide as she saw him trying to push himself off the ground. He was far more gaunt than she had ever seen and bruises and shallow wounds covered his body. She rushed over to him and helped him sit upright against the wall. His head leaned back, eyes closed.

“Thor! Thor, oh god, what did they do to you?” she breathed, her voice trembling.

His eyes cracked open and he looked at her. “Carol?” he said weakly, “Is that really you?”

“Yeah, it’s me. It’s me.” She was shaking, but she couldn’t stop it. He was in worse shape but she was weak herself. Thor moaned and his eyes fluttered. “Hey! Hey, stay with me!” she said, her voice frantic. His eyes opened again. “What did they do to you?” she repeated.

He didn’t seem to hear her. His hand came up and rested lightly on the side of her face. “It’s really you.”  
  
Carol was confused. “What do you mean, ‘really me’?”

“They have some kind of tech that makes… things… seem real,” he managed. “I would go to you and every time it was just a… mirage.”

“I’m here. But I’m not sure you wanna be here,” she said shakily, trying to smile.  
  
Thor made a sound that might have been a laugh. A pained smile formed on his lips. “It’s ok. As long as I’m with you.”

“How did this happen? Where are the Guardians?”

Thor shook his head. “I told them to stay away. They would be caught. Tortured.”

“Like you?”

“Yeah, like me. Most of them wouldn’t have survived the first day. Probably Drax. He would have survived. Maybe Nebula…”

She could see a faraway look in his eyes, and she grabbed his shoulder to give it a small shake. “Hey, focus. What’s going on here? How did they catch you?”

“It was a job, or so we thought. When we arrived it was all wrong. This place has an evil feeling. These… things jumped at us. I was able to hold them off long enough for the others to escape, but I was overpowered. They tortured me, fed me odd substances that gave me visions. I’m afraid I must have said something about you. This is all my fault.” He looked down at her, pain in his eyes.

Carol grabbed his hand and shook her head. “No, don’t you say that. I came here because they sent out a signal. They lured me same as you.”

“They used me as bait,” he objected, “You would have never gotten caught…”

She put a finger on his lips. “Stop. It doesn’t matter.”

“Carol, I need to tell you…” he started as her hand dropped, but she didn’t let him finish.

She kissed him. It was slow at first, almost tentative. Then he slid his hand behind her head and pulled her weakly toward him. A feeling of love and pain and despair welled up inside her, and her kiss became fierce and desperate. When she pulled back there were tears shining in her eyes.

“I love you, Thor,” she whispered.

He smiled weakly at her. “I love you, so much,” he said. A single tear escaped her eyelid and ran down her cheek. “Hey,” he said as his thumb wiped her cheek. “It’s ok. We’re here together.”

She kissed him again, and she could taste her salty tears running down to their mouths. She cursed the lost water, but she couldn’t stop. What did it matter, anyway? He wrapped one arm around her as she leaned back against him.

“Do you remember what you told me that night you were drunk and fighting everyone?” she asked.

“Mmmmm, something about not being worthy?”  
  
“Not that.”

“That I’d go visit New Asgard? I did, you know.”  
  
She laughed. “I know! Not that either.”

Thor was quiet for a moment, and she looked up at him to make sure he was still awake. He was looking down at her. “I said you were good for me. I meant it.”

“I know,” she said. “It stuck with me. I couldn’t figure out how it was possible that two damaged people could be good for each other. But somehow it works. You make me better, Thor.”

He kissed the top of her forehead, and she laid her head against his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

“So are you gonna get us out of here, or what?” he said eventually, a teasing note in his voice.

She sighed. “It’s Carol-proof.”  
  
“Nothing is Carol-proof.”

“Even if I could break these walls, I’m too weak now. I haven’t had any food or drink for days.”

“That make two of us,” he said as he surprised her by trying to stand. Getting to her feet, she helped him up, though he could hardly stand on his own. “The two of us, starved, dehydrated, and beaten to hell, are still more powerful than half the galaxy. More than half. C’mon, we can do this,” he said. “What about the door?”  
  
“Impenetrable.”  
  
“Walls?”

“They absorb the photon blasts.”

“What about that window?” he asked, pointing to the tiny opening.

Carol laughed. “I can’t squeeze through there, and unless you have an Ant-man suit on you I don’t think you can either.”

“Maybe it’s a weak spot.”

She shrugged. What the hell, it was worth a shot. “Can you stand?”

“Of course,” he replied, but she didn’t really believe him. He stepped away from her, then stumbled and almost fell.

“Nevermind, just hold onto me,” she said, grabbing him.

He leaned heavily on her as his eyes started glowing and she could hear thunder rumbling outside. A massive bolt of lightning came crashing down around the window, and she hit the edges with a blast at the same time. A small crack formed in one corner.

“Haha, see?” Thor laughed, “it’s working!”

“Less talking, more lightning. They’re going to notice soon.”

They hit the edges of the window again and again. The crack slowly propagated, and a few others started forming. A small crumble of rock had fallen down by the time the door slid open, but the opening still wasn’t big enough. There was no waiting, though, they had to get out of there now.

“Hold on tight,” she said as she wrapped her arms around his waist. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the beings falter in their rush as her light blinded them. She hoped that the cracks would be enough. Taking a deep breath she flew out the window and they exploded out of it. She climbed higher and higher. She had no idea where she was going, but it had to be anywhere off this planet. At the edge of the atmosphere she stopped, not certain if Thor could handle space without a suit. He was unconscious in her arms and she didn’t know if he had passed out or been knocked out. Struggling, she managed to deploy a distress signal; not a usual activity for her. She looked down and saw several ships coming at them from the surface of the planet. Desperately, she scanned the space in front of them.

Then the Benatar came through a jump point. She blasted over to them, hauling Thor’s dead weight with her. When they got through the air lock she collapsed, falling to the floor next to the unconscious god. She looked up at a ring of curious faces bending over her.  
  
“GO! Get us out of here!” she yelled, sending them into action. This planet would pay, she vowed, but right now fleeing was the only option. She felt the ship lurch under her as they went back through the jump point.

She hauled herself up on one arm and leaned over Thor. “Hey. Hey. Wake up,” she said weakly, patting him on the cheek. He didn’t wake. She became more frantic, shaking his shoulder. “Thor! Come on!”

Mantis walked over to them. “He lives, but he sleeps,” she told Carol.

“I know that!” Carol snapped desperately, “Wake him up!”

Mantis shook her head and instead placed a hand on Carol’s forehead. Before she knew it, she was out.


	10. epilogue: it's you that I've found

_Space, Andromeda Galaxy, two days later_

“Hey there,” she said, leaning against the door.

Thor turned to look at her from where he lay propped up in bed. He wasn’t wearing a shirt and she was able to see the full extent of his injuries. Bruises and scabbed wounds covered his body and he had a bandage wrapped at an angle around his chest. A broad grin lit up his face when he saw her. “They let you out of bed?”  
  
“They couldn’t stop me,” she smirked. “Made me take this along though.” She gestured to the IV rack that she had dragged with her.

“You’re looking well,” he said.

She knew that she still looked like hell, but she was clean and somewhat rested and the color had started to return to her face. “They really did a number on you, didn’t they?”

“I’m a bit sore, yes,” he chuckled. “There’s something that might make me feel better, though.” He had a roguish look in his eye.

“What?” She narrowed her eyes suspiciously, lips curving into a smirk.  
  
“You.”

Carol laughed. Grabbing her IV she walked over to his bed and sat on the side of it. “I’m not much of a nurse, you know.”

Thor responded by pulling her down toward him. Their lips met, and electricity shot down to her toes. He kissed her hungrily, as if he gained sustenance from her, and pulled her against him. She responded eagerly, snaking one hand through his hair as she pushed his mouth against hers. Suddenly he winced and pulled away.

“Ow ow ow!” he yelled, gingerly holding the wound on his chest hidden by the bandage.

She shook her head at him. “You? Overdoing it before you’re healed?” she said sarcastically.

“I’m fine!” he insisted as Mantis came dashing into the room. Reflexively, Carol jumped off the bed.

“What happened? What did you do?” Mantis demanded of Thor.

He waved her away. “Nothing, nothing, just a muscle spasm,” he lied.

Mantis went over to the bed and checked the bandage around his chest, then his IV line. Having found nothing obviously wrong, she looked at Thor and Carol suspiciously, but left the room all the same.

“You shouldn’t lie to her, she’ll know it,” Carol said, sitting back on the bed.

“It’s harmless. Now where were we?” He was trying to pull her back down to him, but she pulled back, laughing.

“You are going to hurt yourself again.”

He grinned up at her. “It will be worth it.”

She shook her head at him again and brushed a stray lock of hair off his forehead. “Thor, I don’t know…” she started.

“No no no. You already said you loved me. You can’t take it back,” he interrupted.

“ _I don’t know_ how I’m going to ever spend time away from you,” she continued, smiling, “I hope they’re ok with me hanging around.”

“They will be,” he growled, trying again to pull her down toward him. This time she let him. She kissed him softly, relishing the feel of his lips on hers. Eventually, reluctantly, she pulled away.

“You do really need to rest,” she told him, starting get off the bed.

He grabbed her arm before she could stand. “Don’t leave.”

“Well scoot over, then.”

Thor grinned as he moved to one side and she climbed into the narrow bed next to him. There was little room and she was pressed up against him, but he put one arm around her and pulled her closer anyways. A few moments later his breathing turned shallow and even. She laid there, reveling of in the feeling of being wrapped in his arms, until she also fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this work! I'd love to hear if you did. I have a lot of fun writing them, and I'm sad that it will be a long time before we even have a chance to see them interact again on screen.


End file.
